The present invention relates generally to a terminal apparatus having network communication capabilities preferably for use in electronic note pads having network communication capabilities such as electronic mail and WWW (World Wide Web) browser capabilities and personal computers.
For terminal apparatuses having communication capabilities to use network communication capabilities such as electronic mail and WWW browsing, ISP (Internet Service Provider) information and mail account information must be set on these terminal apparatuses beforehand for network connection.
The ISP information includes DNS (Domain Name System) of the ISP to be connected, a password, and an access point telephone number. As for the mail capability, mail account information includes mail user account information, POP3 (Post Office Protocol) server information, and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) server information.
In conventional terminal apparatuses having network communication capabilities, it is normally supposed that one terminal be used by one user. Therefore, the above-mentioned ISP information and mail account information are set only for one user using that terminal.
However, it is sometimes advantageous if two or more users use the network communication capabilities of one terminal apparatus.
It is necessary for the realization of this requirement to set the ISP information and mail account information of each of the users to the terminal apparatus beforehand and, at the same time, provide a memory area for storing data to be transferred for each of the users.
In other words, a user whose ISP information and mail account information are not set to a terminal apparatus and whose memory area is not allocated thereto beforehand cannot use the network communication capabilities such as the electronic mail capability of that terminal apparatus.
The network communication capabilities such as electronic mail becomes usable if the ISP information and mail account information of that user are set and the memory area is allocated immediately before using the network communication capabilities. However, the settings of ISP information and mail account information are cumbersome and takes time, thereby making it unrealistic for users to make necessary settings immediately before using the network communication capabilities.
It is also necessary to prepare in the terminal apparatus a memory area enough for storing the mail data of each user. If the number of users to share that terminal apparatus is not certain, it is impossible to allocate the memory areas of a proper size.
If the memory areas having an insufficient size is allocated, such memory areas store only ISP information and mail account information and may not store electronic mail data, thereby disabling the users to use the network communication capabilities.
Therefore, in the conventional terminal apparatuses, users who can use the network communication capabilities of a particular terminal apparatus are limited to only those whose ISP information and mail account information have been set and memory areas have been allocated.
For two or more users to use the network communication capabilities of one terminal apparatus, it is necessary to use the ISP information and mail account information of each of these users set to that terminal apparatus as the information for network communication applications such as an electronic mail application. This, however, requires the introduction of the concept for terminal application log-in and log-off.
However, if the users are not well familiar with network communication, it is difficult for them to correctly understand the log-in/log-off concept, thereby bringing about a situation in which the network communication capabilities are substantially not fully used.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a terminal apparatus that allows two or more users to share the network communication capabilities of that terminal apparatus by simple and easy operations.
In carrying out the invention and according to a first aspect thereof, there is provided a terminal apparatus having a network communication capability, comprising: a loading section in which an external memory is loaded; and network communication capability executing means for reading such information necessary for using the network communication capability as ISP (Internet Service Provider) information and user mail account information from the external memory loaded in the loading section, executing data transfer operation of the network communication capability by using the read information, and storing data received by the network communication capability into the external memory
According to the invention, when using the network capabilities such as an electronic mail capability, the ISP information and the mail account information stored in the external memory in the loading section are read and, by use of these pieces of information, the network communication capabilities such as an electronic mail capability are executed.
Consequently, the users of the network communication capabilities need not preset such information necessary for transferring electronic mails as ISP information and mail account information. The users are required only to load the external memory into the loading section of the terminal apparatus for using the network communication capabilities.
For example, any user who owns the external memory in which such information necessary for electronic mail transfer as his or her own ISP information and account information can use the electronic mail capability of the terminal apparatus.
In carrying out the invention and according to a second aspect thereof, there is provided a terminal apparatus having a network communication capability, comprising: a loading section in which an external memory is loaded; external memory loading detecting means for detecting loading of the external memory in the loading section; and control means for making the network communication capability usable when loading of the external memory in the loading section is confirmed by a detection output of the external memory loading detecting means.
According to the invention, simply loading the external memory into the terminal apparatus makes usable such network communication capabilities of that terminal apparatus electronic mail and WWW browser capabilities.
Consequently, any user not familiar with network communication can use network communication capabilities without making the cumbersome initial setting necessary for network communication.
In carrying out the invention and according to a third aspect thereof, there is provided as recited in claim 8 appended hereto a terminal apparatus having a network communication capability, comprising: a loading section in which an external memory is loaded; external memory unloading detecting means for detecting unloading of the external memory from the loading section; communication capability executing means for executing the network communication capability by reading such information necessary for using the network communication capability as ISP (Internet Service Provider) information and mail account information from the external memory loaded in the loading section and using the read information and the usable network communication capability; and control means for ending the network communication capability when unloading of the external memory from the loading section is confirmed by a detection output of the external memory unloading detecting means.
According to the invention, unloading the external memory from the terminal apparatus automatically ends such network communication capabilities as electronic mail. Therefore, if plural users use a single terminal apparatus, the individuality of the network communication capability such as electronic mail can be reserved.
In carrying out the invention and according to a fourth aspect thereof, there is provided as recited in a terminal apparatus having a network communication capability, comprising: a loading section in which an external memory is loaded; external memory loading/unloading detecting means for detecting loading and unloading of the external memory into and from the loading section; and control means for making the network communication capability usable when loading of the external memory in the loading section is confirmed by a detection output of the external memory loading/unloading detecting means and, when the external memory loading/unloading detecting means detects unloading of the external memory from the loading section, ending the network communication capability on the basis of a detection output of the external memory loading/unloading detecting means.
According to the invention, loading the external memory into the terminal apparatus makes the network communication capabilities such as electronic mail usable and unloading the external memory from the terminal apparatus ends the use of the network communication capabilities. Consequently, the log-in/log-off concept of an electronic mail application and an Internet home page access application (such as a browser) can be realized by the loading and unloading of the external memory on the terminal apparatus, thereby allowing users not well familiar with network communication to intuitively understand the concept and use the network communication capabilities with ease.